Allagash Curieux

Date: November 02, 2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
Appearance: opaque yellow, whispy white head
Aroma: bright funky spicy aroma
Body: creamy body
Flavor: light malt flavor, great yeast character giving a touch of spices, nice oak and vanilla, light bitterness

Date: March 04, 2008
Mode: draft
Source: brick store
Appearance: opaque burnt orange, dense creamy white head, thick drippy lace
Aroma: sweet estery fruity and vanilla aroma with lots of spicyness, touch of oak mixed in with the spicyness
Flavor: sweet caramel and vanilla flavor continues to grow and enrichen, hint of bourbon, lots of oak and spicyness for balance

Date: May 13, 2008
Mode: bottle
Source: Green’s
Aroma: aroma is very oaky with a light funk followed by a sweet fruity character
Flavor: flavor is sweet and estery balanced by the woody oak, very little of the bourbon character in this bottle

Date: March 07, 2009
Mode: draft
Source: brick store
more oak than bourbon, a golden ale with oak and very little bourbon,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Bottled June 2006. Aroma started vinous, but followed with caramel malt and sweet fruits, like pineapple or peach. Orangey in color, with a white head that’s substantial and laces. Medium bodied. Creamy carbonation. Starts something candi sweet with a touch of alcohol and sweet stone fruit - not dark fruit. Pineapple seems in there somewhere. Vanilla comes along, and the finish is not quite dry, and a bit astringent. The bitter aspects could be from floral hop. There’s a tannic aspect for sure, and that’s got to be from the barrel. Not sure about bourbon.

Much thanks to Reklaw for sharing this with me. Poured golden with no head and oily lacing. Nose is white wine, dried fruit, and teriyaki. Flavors of vanilla, oak, plum, astringent alcohol, and thai noodles emerge. Slightly dry finish. Medium carbonation and medium body. Very rich and complex.

Pale yellow of color with a white head. An aroma of apples, pears, fruits and drnotes, no alcohol. A flavor of apples, pears, frutis, spice and muscato grapes, dry notes.

In short: A fizzy, fruity, woody and ultimately refreshing strong Belgian blonde ale.
How: Many tasting sessions
The look: Cloudy dark blonde body topped by a small white head.
In long: Barrel apparent on the nose. Very yeasty beer with fruity notes of pineapples, peach and other juicy light fruits. Honey sweetness is kept under control considering this is an 11% beer. Barrel is well integrated and finds its niche without crushing other elements of the beer. Some (or impression of) salty spices. Surprising hoppy finale with a medium bitterness. Alcohol well concealed, I would have guessed 8%. It’s rare that a high abv barrel-aged beer can be called refreshing but it’s the case here. Another winner from Allagash. I’d drink that type of strong and sweet refreshing beers until I have the body of a god. Buddha is a god.

Bottled August 2006. Pours an opaque, golden-orange color with a white, fairly small, fizzy but persistant head and nice but scattered lacing. Nose is bizarre but interesting; the JB note is apparent first but not overpowering, as if from a cocktail with bourbon. Other notes of light vanilla, tart lambic-esque notes, honey, light peach, and herbal notes. Flavor is nice as well but the bourbon flavors are more dominant with a good amount of sweet vanilla. Underlying notes of honey, light herbal bitterness, light tart peach notes, pepper, and even a coconut tinge as well. The oaken vanilla really complements the candi sugar notes of the tripel well with other flavors complementing nicely. Palate is great with a moderately full body, a soft carbonation, and a creamy, velvety texture with just the right amount of dryness from the herbal hops and the oak. Finishes fairly long and a bit dry with notes of vanilla, yeast, and light herbal (oregano, maybe?) with a lingering bourbon tinge. An interesting experiment to say the least; the vanilla notes really were accentuated with the other sweet notes and the oak went well with the other complementary flavors. The bourbon notes were a bit too dominant in the flavor which kept it from being great. Intriguing and certainly uniquely complex with an excellent palate and no noticable signs of alcohol at 11%. Not the best tripel I’ve had but certainly worth a try just for the uniqueness and innovativeness.

Bottled. Golden colour, small white head. Aroma is fruis, malts, hops and slight alcohol with some bourbon-oaky notes. Flavour is hops, malts, caramel, some slight alcohol and bourbon-barrells. Wellbalanced, and hides the alcohol quite well. Smooth and quite fullbodied.

On draft at Birreria Paradiso in Georgetown. Hazy gold with white head. Aroma is honey, flowers, and bourbon. Flavor is floral, bourbon, funky cheese, honey, sour dough. Not overly bourbon and acetone like some beers aged in bourbon barrels. Quite smooth and refreshing, even though I can detect the alcohol. Thanks to Greg at Birreria Paradiso for giving me this sample!